Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated
luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from
their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden
equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst
others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial
intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into
aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420
HondaJet, scheduled to be released in 2012. Honda spends about 5% of its
revenues into R&D.